Floating aquatic vegetation is vegetation that grows on the surface of a body of water. Growths of aquatic vegetation, particularly Water Hyacinth can be a significant problem. This plant grows rapidly and can completely cover a body of water, making it useless for many purposes. There is consequently considerable incentive to remove such plants. In addition, it has now been found that some of this floating aquatic vegetation, again Water Hyacinth is an example, is useful for other purposes. It may, for example, be processed into animal fodder or fertilizer.
In consequence, various devices have been designed for removing floating aquatic vegetation from the surface of the water on which it is growing. One known device for this purpose simply chops the vegetation in the water where it is left to sink or disperse. Other systems include devices for gathering the vegetation on the water surface and for collecting the gathered vegetation in barges or delivering it to shore-based processors. These latter systems are preferred in that they actually remove the plants from the water rather than leaving dead vegetation to rot both on the bottom and on the shore.
With Water Hyacinth, problems arise because of the structure of the plant. It has a very open structure that can not readily be collapsed. When it is gathered and subsequently collected, it maintains this very open structure. This means that the handling equipment used must handle very large volumes of loose material. With floating collection systems, this requires either frequent trips to shore or a large number of collection barges. With land-based systems, the efficient delivery of the voluminous plants to the shore is equally inhibited.
The present invention is addressed to these and other problems with the harvesting of floating aquatic vegetation.